Blue Iris Hardware advice

Dazcomputers

Dazcomputers

Getting the hang of it
Sep 12, 2017
169
62
milwaukee
I have a few BI systems that I've setup in the past so I'm very familiar with the software and getting pretty good configuring I got a new job and my boss wants me to setup a very nice system for security. I'd like some real high resolution cams(advice on what is actually the quality cutoff as far as megapixels) I'm thinking at least 20 cams. Im going to have it behind its own router with cat 6 cable. I'd like to know best practice to make sure the system won't lag and how to calculate correctly. I looked at the wiki and didn't see i9 listed is there a reason for this? And if so which i7 would be best? I found a 14 TB wd purple drive and would like to know if its better to just use one or add a couple and spread the cameras over two of them......Just want smooth video. I know my other systems I set fps to 15 and they seem to do well just not sure how the system will react to 20 higher rez cams. Hes allowing me to spend some money but I still would like to keep it in a realistic amount and not just spend to spend. Any help will be appreciated. I've learned everything from here this will be the best system build yet so pretty excited. OH And how much ram should I be looking at? Added a pic of the pc I was looking at. And any recommendation on cameras if anyone has good suggestions,
As far as battery backup I've been using the APC 1500VA model and they work great but was also thinking of getting a bigger one for this system and making sure all switches are on backup power as well. Am I forgetting anything?/ I'm looking at the four routers for this system. Anyone using any of these models? Just looking to see what you guys think while Im researching and planning. Let the fun begin.
 

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You don't need to buy a new computer. Go with a refurbish coming off a lease. Most of the time they were not even used or barely. The one I got looked brand new - not a scratch, piece of lint or dust, fingerprint anywhere. Looked brand new.

An i7- 6th or 7th gen will be fine. Go with 16GB of RAM.

Keep the FPS to 15 like you have now.

Regarding cameras, it is simple LOL do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy a 4K (8MP) camera on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k (8MP) cams are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP... 4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL).

You need to identify the areas you want to cover and pick a camera designed to cover that distance. In some instances, it may be a 2MP or 4MP that is the right camera. DO NOT CHASE MP!!!

Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.
  • 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm or the 4K/X - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
  • 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
  • 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
  • 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.
You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A wide angle 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.
 
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@wittaj Wow very nice reply. I was thinking of ordering 1 of each kind. He has many different areas to cover so many different cameras will be needed like you said depending on the situation. Thanks for listing the cams out I will look into all of this. Seriously thanks a bunch. I love this site. That way I can test them out and see exactly what it looks like. Def need some good night ones as well.
 
wittaj said:
The 5442 series and 4K/X are as good as they come for night vision.

With the number of cams you are buying, reach out to @EMPIRETECANDY directly to score a good deal!
Click to expand...
For sure I've bought cameras from him in the past. I'm hitting my boss up now to let him know I'm starting the project and to think about how many cams and where hes gonna want them besides the obvious ones. This is going to be fun
 
So basically keeping all the fps at 15 is what will help to keep it all smooth correct. Ill be using the UI3 to view cameras everywhere. It works so good with all my other systems.
 
wittaj said:
You don't need to buy a new computer. Go with a refurbish coming off a lease. Most of the time they were not even used or barely. The one I got looked brand new - not a scratch, piece of lint or dust, fingerprint anywhere. Looked brand new.

An i7- 6th or 7th gen will be fine. Go with 16GB of RAM.

Keep the FPS to 15 like you have now.

Regarding cameras, it is simple LOL do not chase MP - do not buy a 4MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/1.8" sensor. Do not buy a 2MP camera that is anything smaller than a 1/2.8" sensor. Do not buy a 4K (8MP) camera on anything smaller than a 1/1.2" sensor. Unfortunately, most 4k (8MP) cams are on the same sensor as a 2MP and thus the 2MP will kick its butt all night long as the 4k will need 4 times the light than the 2MP... 4k will do very poor at night unless you have stadium quality lighting (well a lot of lighting LOL).

You need to identify the areas you want to cover and pick a camera designed to cover that distance. In some instances, it may be a 2MP or 4MP that is the right camera. DO NOT CHASE MP!!!

Here are my general distance recommendations, but switch out the Dahua 5442 series camera to the equivalent 2MP on the 1/2.8" sensor or equivalent Hikvision works as well.
  • 5442 fixed lens 2.8mm or the 4K/X - anything within 10 feet of camera OR as an overview camera
  • 5442 ZE - varifocal - distances up to 40-50 feet (personally I wouldn't go past the 30 foot range but I like things closer)
  • 5442 Z4E - anything up to 80-100 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 60 feet but I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - anything from 80 feet to almost 200 feet (personally I wouldn't go past 150 feet because I like things closer)
  • 5241-Z12E - for a license plate cam that you would angle up the street to get plates up to about 175 feet away, or up to 220 with additional IR.
  • 49225 PTZ - great auto-track PTZ and in conjunction with an NVR or Blue Iris and the cameras above that you can use as spotter cams to point the PTZ to the correct location to compliment the fixed cams.
You need to get the correct camera for the area trying to be covered. A wide angle 2.8mm to IDENTIFY someone 40 feet away is the wrong camera regardless of how good the camera is. A 2.8mm camera to IDENTIFY someone within 10 feet is a good choice OR it is an overview camera to see something happened but not be able to identify who.
Click to expand...
I also forgot to mention that I am going to be using this pc as my work pc so I think I might go with the i9 just to hook myself up a bit. lol
 
Spread them out over 2 drives. im currently at 18 cams on 2 drives with an i5-8500. performing well. One drive is an 8TB-5400 RPM WD Purp Surveillance drive. The other is a 5TB WD white label from Ebay. Previous BI machine I had skimped with " what was laying around" and used a WD Blue Drive (6TB) and paid the price with Read Write problems)
 
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I was bumbling around on ebay the other night and noticed the Dell XPS 8930 and the Precision 3630 use a eeerily similar tower layout inside. that can house 3 3.5" HDD's. I'm fine with my Fenderman recommended i5-8500 HP Elitedesk, because it too, has room for 2 3.5" drives and an NVME m.2 drive.
So I bought the Precision as my next Daily driver/ BI at Home machine. Hell my Optiplex9020 MT i5-4590 is my daily driver now, and its running 9 cams, and all the extraneous other activities I do....It just looks as though it wont be able to run W11 in the future.
 
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